


the days we deemed dull

by renjuly



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Office AU, anyway enjoy jshsksh, fluff mostly, hmmm slow burn, lmao literally the markhyuck offfice au no one wrote except its ages late, lucas ten and kun are a lit squad I wanna b friends w them, markhyuck, the other dreamies aren’t in this, yutae johnjae n wooil if u squint, yuwin if you squint harder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 13:17:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16535291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renjuly/pseuds/renjuly
Summary: mark and donghyuck spend one trial week battling for a job as doyoung’s secretary.mark is so undeniably hardworking, but donghyuck, the clumsy and quick-witted college student, has a charm that makes the tedious work days of the office workers that bit better.and maybe, he’ll be all it takes to make the office a family again.





	the days we deemed dull

It was 8am on Monday morning and Mark was already out on the road waiting for the bus. He was dressed in suit pants, a black jumper, and a freshly ironed white shirt with the collar peaking out neatly at his neck. 

As he boarded the bus, he glanced at his hair in the rear view mirror, just to check it was still as neat and gelled as it had been when he left his house ten minutes ago. 

With an hour to spare before his first day of work began, Mark decided to get off the bus at a short distance from the company building and go over the things he’d been planning to say. As he flawlessly went through a spiel of his past work experience, preferred working hours and reasons why he would be a good fit for this job, he began to feel more at ease. 

Mark had worked several different jobs before, only ever leaving his last position to pursue a better one, which he was doing right now. It started at a part time job at subway all the way to a part time lifeguard at the local pool. Now Mark was finished with college, it was time he took on a full time job, and hopefully if he started small with this job as a secretary, he might work his way up in the company and make good use of his degree. 

Prior to this, Mark had had a short interview with the boss, Kim Dongyoung, in which he essentially went through the exact things he was rehearsing to say again today. After this, Mark was informed that he would be spending a trail week as the secretary, along with another person. Mark just wanted to be sure could secure this job safely for himself, so he didn’t ask questions and instead focused on remembering everything he had learned up until this point. 

Walking into the car park itself was quite daunting, as thoughts of what exactly was about to happen where whirring through his brain at discomforting speeds, and he wasn’t quite sure how to calm them down. 

Mark pushed open the door to the building with confidence. He always had his own back in times like this, and even though he’d never actually done a trial run for a job, he was sure he could handle it. This job was definitely a huge step up from his last one, and he had to act like it. 

He was instructed by the angry looking man at the front desk to go and wait in a separate room for the boss to call him, as he was ten minutes early. Without question, Mark obediently sat down in silence on one of the chairs lining the walls of this room. 

Exactly ten minutes later, the familiar face of Kim Dongyoung entered the room. 

Smiling in salutation, Mark stood up to shake his hand. “Nice to see you again, Kim Dongyoung,” he greeted, and was swiftly greeted back by the welcoming man. 

“Ah, calling me Doyoung is fine for now, Mark,” he replied before his face fell slightly in confusion. “Aren’t there supposed to be two of you?”

Mark looked around, suddenly remembering why he was here. Things were already looking up if his rival for this job didn’t even show up on time. 

“I’m sure he’s just caught in traffic,” Doyoung smiled, allowing leeway for this other person to show up on time. “I haven’t actually spoken to him in person yet, we did our interview over the phone because he had a lecture during the time I was free,” 

Mark nodded to show Doyoung he was giving his full attention, but inside, he was next to freaking the fuck out. This guy was a college professor, a type of experience that Mark had nothing on, and suddenly he began to feel worried again. Maybe learning off what he was going to say wouldn’t be enough this time. 

Thankfully before the conversation got awkward, Doyoung kindly excused himself for another ten minutes in which he hoped the other person would arrive in. Mark took this chance to come to terms with the possibility that he may not actually get this job like he’d been hoping.

As if on cue, two minutes later the door swung open and in walked a man younger than Mark. 

He was wearing black suit pants with a plain white shirt tucked in and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The first few buttons were undone but the shirt was held in place by a swipe card hanging around his neck. Adorned on his wrist was a rather stylish-looking silver watch that matched the edges of his spectacles. His hair, unlike Mark’s, was mostly a poofy mess tussled in every which way, and a golden light-brown colour which mirrored the golden glow of his tanned skin. 

“Are you the other guy? Mark Lee is it?” he asked breathlessly as he set down a pile of books and a takeaway coffee onto the seat nearest to the door. 

“Yes,” Mark replied plainly, not too eager to engage in small talk with his rivalry. Judging by his looks, Mark was either terrible at guessing ages, or this college student was somehow also a college professor. He concluded that he probably got that one wrong. 

“My name is Lee Donghyuck,” he smiled, putting out his hand to shake Mark’s exactly as Doyoung had done only minutes ago. “I’m glad the boss isn’t here yet, I was so worried I’d be late,”

Mark gave Donghyuck a pitiful look and Donghyuck sighed, seeming to know what he was about to say. “He was here a few minutes ago, but he was nice about you being late. He said he’d be back soon so don’t worry,” 

“Oh, then that’s good,” Donghyuck sighed sweetly before plonking himself on the chair one away from Mark and sorting his pile of books and papers. He shook the coffee cup, which sounded to be nearly empty and knocked back the last of it with a shudder. 

“Why did you shudder?” Mark asked, his mind completely unfiltered from his mouth as it took Donghyuck a little bit by surprise. 

“Oh,” grimaced Donghyuck as he leaned over to put the empty cup in the bin without actually having to get up. “I mixed it up with one of my friends’ coffees but before I realised it was his I was already halfway here,” 

“Is it bad?” Mark asked, unsure of why he was still invested and interrogating Donghyuck about his coffee. 

Donghyuck licked his lips then smacked them together a couple of times while he looked at the ceiling in deep thought. “Yeah, it kinda burns my tongue,” he concluded, to which Mark nodded slowly, and turned away. 

“So we’re going to be spending the next week together huh?” Donghyuck stated, continuing the conversation as if there was never danger of an awkward silence. “We should get to know each other a little better while we wait,”

Mark scoffed a little. This guy shows up late for his first day with the wrong cup of coffee, shirt unbuttoned, with not even a bag to hold his books, and now he was suggesting some sort of circle time between them? Mark couldn’t believe his luck. 

Still, Mark agreed, and Donghyuck spurted out a bunch of questions for the older. Stuff from where he lived and what he did for a living to his favourite ice cream flavour and how many pets he had or wanted. 

Mark only chuckled as the questions came flying out of Donghyuck’s mouth without giving him a chance to answer them. Knitted somewhere throughout the thought process that Donghyuck didn’t stand a chance against him in a company like this, was a tiny feeling that told him there was no harm in making a friend. 

So, rather excitedly, before Doyoung returned, Mark babbled happily back and forth with Donghyuck. He’d missed the excitement of making a new friend. Honestly all that stuff had ended within his first year of college, when people mainly met though mutual friends instead of introducing themselves formally. 

They learned lots about each other in that small time space. Mark told Donghyuck all about Canada, while Donghyuck told Mark about his time living in Jeju. They talked about their favourite goods mix Mark learning that Donghyuck had a deep love for blueberries. Donghyuck seemed quite eager to talk about Coco, his family’s dog, while showing Mark the picture he had of her on his lockscreen. 

Besides those things, Mark also learned that Donghyuck was easy to talk to, more than anyone he’d met before, and that he was a really good listener as well as storyteller. Mark would’ve loved to see his eyes light up while he talked, but the glare from his glasses in the strong light of the windowless room more or less prevented that. 

With Donghyuck across from him sitting on one leg to face Mark properly while they talked, Mark almost lost track of time. That was until Donghyuck’s face grew slightly concerned and he brought his wrist up to check the time before realising it was nearing half past nine. 

Mark immediately began panicking that Doyoung hadn’t returned, worried he’d simply decided that he didn’t need a secretary anymore, but his thoughts were interrupted by Donghyuck getting up and heading towards the door. 

“Are you leaving?” questioned Mark, which earned him both a confused and amused look from Donghyuck. 

“Of course not, we’re going to go find him. He probably just forgot,” Donghyuck clicked the door open and picked up his belongings before walking almost cautiously down the hall, Mark following reluctantly behind. 

The office was scarily quiet, the pair’s footsteps echoless on the grey carpet below them. There was no chatter, nor actual sounds of human existence, but as they neared the main part of the floor, they were met with 9 desks with 7 people copied and pasted with the same expression and position. It was almost something right out of a cartoon, it was so surreal. Mark presumed the two empty desks were for Doyoung and the new secretary. 

Donghyuck and Mark exchanged a glance as they slowly approached from their end of the eerily quiet hall. Suddenly, a loud whirring noise to their right sent them both flying in the opposite direction, terrified with sharp yelps escaping their lips. Donghyuck bumped into Mark’s shoulder a bit as they jumped and the older winced in pain and embarrassment once he realised what exactly had frightened them. 

It was an old looking photocopier, scanning papers and shaking like crazy. It was also coupled with an older looking man who was trying not to laugh at the two trail workers who’d stepped into the office like stray ducklings and frightened the wits out of themselves with a photocopier. 

“Sicheng,” he introduced himself as, holding out his hand for the two to shake, “I’m assuming you’re the trail dudes, so just head over to Doyoung’s office, he walked past a few minutes ago mumbling to himself that he was forgetting something,” 

Sicheng pointed to a door at the end of the hall and Donghyuck let out some sort of stifled laugh.

“I see now why he needs a secretary. Thank you, Sicheng” he joked, and Sicheng patted him on the shoulder with a small chuckle and nodded in agreement. 

“You’re funny, kid, what’s your name?” he asked, cocking his head and Mark gulped at the awkwardness of having to stand next to Donghyuck holding a conversation he wasn’t engaging in. 

“Donghyuck,” he replied, “And this is Mark,” 

Mark felt the blood rush to his cheeks as Sicheng looked him up and down as if he hadn’t noticed he was even there. Mark was partially grateful that Donghyuck had remembered to include him, but also slightly disappointed that he still actually existed in such an awkward encounter. Sicheng only smiled with more delight at the presence of the two. 

“It’s been a while since we’ve had any new workers here, I’ll be looking forward to working with one of you,” he smiled before collecting some papers from the machine beeping loudly behind them and pointing once again to the door of Doyoung’s office at the end of the hall. 

Donghyuck raised his eyebrows at Mark, commencing a silent conversation in which they speechlessly discussed their emotions on the conversation that just took place. Donghyuck’s facial expressions were so enthusiastic that Mark had to stifle a laugh with his hand, and Donghyuck led him away towards Doyoung’s office so he didn’t start snickering out loud in the middle of the silent office. 

With his right hand, the one with the watch on it, Donghyuck tapped lightly on the door before opening it without waiting for a response. 

“Did you forget about us?” he asked quietly, peeking his head around the door and opening it a little wider for Mark to fit through. Mark was appalled at Donghyuck’s casual behaviour towards his potential boss, but he was even more terrified of how Doyoung would react to him, as well as if it would affect Mark himself for not stopping him, or advising him against it, or-

Donghyuck tugged on the sleeve of Mark’s jumper as he snapped Mark out of his thoughts to lead him into the boss’s office. Much to his relief, and surprise, Doyoung was smiling widely at Donghyuck, thanking him for reminding him of exactly what he was forgetting. It was like Donghyuck had reminded Doyoung that he forgot to buy milk, not that he forgot two whole trail workers for his new secretary. 

Donghyuck was right, anyway. This was exactly why Doyoung needed a secretary.  
Doyoung introduced them to two more men, by the names Johnny and Jaehyun. Jaehyun was to watch over Mark and Johnny to Donghyuck for the morning until Doyoung was available. 

As the four parted ways in pairs from Doyoung’s office, Mark caught Donghyuck giving Johnny an enthusiastic high five in his peripheral vision. He turned to Jaehyun who was staring straight ahead and walking so briskly that the papers in his hand made crinkling sounds as he moved. Mark faced ahead as well, matching his pace and admiring his professionalism. 

Immediately, he sent Mark on various tasks throughout the office. None of which resulted in any form of praise or actual communication with Jaehyun. Honestly, Mark wasn’t even entirely sure if he was watching. Nonetheless, he made sure he completed every task quietly and efficiently. 

The time flew by fairly quickly, and Jaehyun got up to leave just as Johnny walked in the door with a sweaty looking Donghyuck. Mark was at a small desk sorting through some files. He’d finished everything else that required moving around, and he was pleased to know that he could actually find his way around the maze of an office. 

Donghyuck however, plonked down exasperated next to Mark and put his head of messy hair in his hands. He sighed, causing one or three papers from the pile in front of Mark to fly up slightly, but not enough to encumber Mark’s speedy filing to which he had picked up a sort of routine to. 

Behind them, Johnny and Jaehyun were speaking in low voices, presumably discussing the working standard between the two trainees. When Jaehyun left, Mark hoped he at least put in a good word for him even if he hadn’t been watching or talking to Mark at all. 

Johnny and Donghyuck seemed to have gotten along well. As soon as Johnny closed the door to the small office room, he patted Donghyuck lightly on the back and the familiar cheeky smile from earlier that morning returned to his face. Mark looked away in favour of continuing his filing, and before it became weird for him to stare too long. 

“I got lost,” confessed Donghyuck, catching Mark’s attention but immediately losing it again as Mark looked up to Johnny, who he expected to be mad but was actually smiling, close to a chuckle. 

“He took a while in the bathroom, I thought he was just taking a shit but-“ Johnny paused for laughter, as did Donghyuck, but the younger’s was more laughter at the expression on Mark’s face from hearing Johnny swear. “he locked himself in, and when he got out he went down the wrong hall so I chased him,”

Mark was in disbelief. A game of chase in an office? The thin layer of sweat on Johnny’s forehead and the triumphant smirk on Donghyuck’s face told Mark everything he needed to know about who won, so he simply scoffed and went back to his work. He was trying to get an office job, not make friends in a playground.

Donghyuck seemed not to know that there was a time and place for everything, and running away from your potential coworker in the middle of an office building on your first day of work was probably about the biggest mistake he could’ve made. 

Or so Mark thought. 

This would stay as his secret, but as Mark returned to the bus stop after work, he watched quietly from across the road as Donghyuck climbed into his car, struggling to open the door with the pile of books in his hand and his swipe card swinging as he moved. 

That morning, from the second he had met Donghyuck in all his unpunctual glory, Mark was sure he had this job in the bag. And maybe Donghyuck’s eccentric tendencies and likeable personality were enough to charm Johnny now, but Mark knew his hard work would shine through in the end. 

-

Tuesday morning, Mark was an hour late. Luckily, Doyoung didn’t seem to notice and he slipped in amongst the workers, eventually migrating to Doyoung’s office with Donghyuck for extra work.

While Doyoung made phone calls and went in and out of the room, Mark worked away diligently while Donghyuck supplied some entertainment. That, being whispering jokes while he pretended to do whatever Mark was doing. In any other circumstance, Mark would have scolded the other for not working hard, but since the less Donghyuck worked benefited Mark, it didn’t seem too important. 

For the most part of the day, they actually chatted to the other workers. Well, Donghyuck chatted and Mark supplied the canned laughter for his jokes. It wasn’t even necessary as his jokes were actually funny, but Mark still found himself giggling like an idiot at things the younger said that he didn’t even understand. 

Johnny, Jaehyun and Sicheng were among these people they spent their Tuesday with, but also three other men named Taeil, Jungwoo and Yuta. Mark wasn’t sure how he hadn’t seen Yuta before, as he’d been next to Sicheng any time he did happen to see him. Nonetheless, Yuta seemed to be the man to get the most work done and later Mark would learn that he was the deputy boss if and when Doyoung mightn’t be able to come to work. 

Taeil and Jungwoo seemed like they’d once been an “iconic duo” as Donghyuck said, but were now settled down into a constant routine of stamping papers with print too small to read. At one point, Donghyuck was assigned to help them with one of their tasks, and he’d said something to make them all laugh. Mark swore he saw Taeil give Jungwoo a secret fist bump behind Donghyuck’s back for god knows what reason. 

While Donghyuck was with them, Mark was with Yuta. Sicheng, Jaehyun and Johnny were off doing their own individual work at their desks, and Mark didn’t have a problem working with someone he’d already grown admiration from upon hearing his position in the office. 

However, something he didn’t realise was that he wasn’t working with Yuta alone. At the back of the office, where Mark had failed to see due to it’s dullness, there was another desk almost invisible to an eye that wasn’t looking directly for it. Sat at it, was a man named Taeyong. 

His hair was grown into a short mullet, and his veiny hands and delicate fingers danced naturally across the keyboard. There was nothing beautiful about this situation however, as his face was dead and unchanging. Mark felt almost uncomfortable looking at this man who had achieved a complete blank expression. 

“What’s this?” Mark asked, pointing to what was on Taeyong’s computer screen and entertaining the possibility that casually talking to this man might make him less terrifying. 

When he didn’t respond, Mark snuck a glance at Yuta who was equally as uncomfortable looking, but noticed Mark’s uncertainty and embarrassment at his question being ignored. 

“He’s a workaholic. There’s not much time for chitchat in his world,” Yuta responded for him, looking back at Taeyong in an almost concerned way. 

Taeyong chose this moment to speak. “I’ll need you finish sorting these,” he spoke flatly, handing a stack of papers to Mark “Don’t mess them up or you’ll prove there’s no point in hiring another useless person to this office,” he spat, emphasising the word ‘useless’ while giving a minute glance over to Donghyuck, Taeil and Jungwoo, who were currently trying to catch blueberries in their mouths without using their hands. 

Mark gulped and looked back to Yuta for reassurance. In response, he got an apologetic smile and another, but more lighthearted, prompt to start sorting the papers. 

The two were dismissed from their work for a lunch break, so, as an idea supplied by Donghyuck, they went to explore the building in search of the cafeteria. 

Donghyuck heedlessly led the way in spurts of running and speed walking, not wanting to stop and read the signs directing them where to go like Mark did, but rather suggesting that it would be “more fun” if they found their own way. He almost bumped into many different people as they turned corners, and Mark didn’t miss the way he bit his top lip in embarrassment each time. 

After a while, Donghyuck began properly running, and a good deal of time had passed when Mark finally had enough. 

“Donghyuck- Donghyuck slow down- I’m not built for this- DONGHYUCK!” Mark panted between breaths as he slowly acquired a growing pain in his side. He slowed down and stopped, then bent over, holding his side and let out a big huff of air that caught Donghyuck’s attention. 

“Are you okay?” Donghyuck asked, concerned and noting the thin layer of sweat on Mark’s forehead and the darkening patches on the under arms of his shirt. 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just a stitch. Besides, we’re not going to find the cafeteria if we run around like hooligans,” Mark rolled his eyes and attempted to stand up, stretching his back and shoulders to adjust to being upright again. “We should look for it properly, like ask someone for directions or-“

“Actually,” Donghyuck stopped him, doing that embarrassed lip bite thing again and looking worriedly between Mark and his wristwatch held out in front of his face. Mark leant over to look at the time. 

Five minutes until they should be back to work. Definitely not enough time to find the cafeteria let alone get lunch. 

Mark sighed deeply, and instantly Donghyuck’s chirpy attitude and excited expression dropped and he visibly shrunk back. His stomach gave a tiny growl to which he folded his arms subconsciously over, looking uncomfortable while avoiding Mark’s eye. Because of his stupid shenanigans, he’d missed his own lunch and made Mark miss his too. 

Mark bit his tongue and walked off in silence back the way they came, gesturing for the younger to follow as he deftly followed the hallway back as if he’d been memorising it the entire time. 

He stopped only to fish a coin out of the depths of his pocket, and turned down a corridor Donghyuck previously hadn’t seen. In the corner there was a vending machine which Mark walked briskly towards. 

“What should I get?” he asked Donghyuck, not taking his eyes off the lights of the other loud whirring machine in this office. 

Timidly, Donghyuck stepped closer to peer into the selection of snacks in the vending machine. It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t disappointed that Mark wasn’t getting anything for him. “Um, how about a blueberry granola bar?”

Mark just nodded, pressed in the number and then slotted in the coin while Donghyuck shifted from foot to foot beside him. Once he’d acquired the bar, he caught Donghyuck’s wrist to check the time, but then turned his hand around and placed the bar in the younger’s palm.

He walked off again. Donghyuck stared at the bar in his hand as if it wielded some kind of magical power, and followed Mark who led him back to Doyoung’s office without a wrong turn. He ate the bar quietly and gratefully, and even offered Mark a bite, to which he declined. 

There was almost a lump in his throat as he swallowed. Mark was being so nice, so why did he feel so guilty?

Later, in his car after work, Donghyuck saw Mark walking home, passing the bus stop without a second glance. 

Blueberry flavoured butterflies churned around in Donghyuck’s stomach at the thought of eating Mark’s bus money. 

And in his mind, everything changed. 

-

Wednesday must have been marked in Donghyuck’s calendar as “make a complete fucking mess” day. 

Mark couldn’t count the amount of books he dropped, papers he accidentally ripped, and jobs he did wrong. When he’d walked into Doyoung’s office that morning with his usual pile of books and a coffee, he told Mark that he had his friend’s hell coffee again. Except this time he drank the whole cup without flinching. 

The two were asked to deliver certain files and messages to people around the office. This time, Donghyuck calmly followed Mark, as he seemed to know where he was going for the most part. 

“Yesterday, Taeil, Jungwoo and I went shopping,” he told Mark, who exhaled sharply from his nose as some sort of laugh-reply. 

Donghyuck turned to look at Mark. “We went clothes shopping,”

Mark nodded. He didn’t really peg Taeil and Jungwoo to be the type to go on shopping trips with random college students. They must have really bonded the day before to already be going on non-work related trips together. Donghyuck looked rather pleased that he’d managed to drag the two out for the day, and Mark wondered if they’d even got any work done when they were planning it. 

“Ahem,” Donghyuck fake coughed, rolling his eyes sweetly in Mark’s direction. He stopped walking with folded arms and started tapping his foot on the floor. If Donghyuck was trying to tell him something, Mark was completely clueless. 

Donghyuck faked another cough before realising that Mark wasn’t really getting the message. He used one hand to put in the pocket of his jeans and the other to push his hair back behind his ear. 

The first thing Mark noticed was that this was the first time he’d ever seen the younger’s hair pushed even a tiny bit away from his face. The second thing he noticed was a small rose gold hoop in his ear. Then, his eyes drifted to his shirt, which was clearly new as it was stiff with starch, pearly white and with a swirly heart design over the pocket. As usual, the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he was wearing his signature watch. The last thing Mark allowed himself to look at before it became weird for him to stare so long, was Donghyuck’s jeans which were ripped at the knees and thighs exposing his golden skin. Looped around his waist was a shiny silver belt with a treble clef on the buckle. 

Mark looked back up at Donghyuck’s face, and he was already making direct eye contact from the second he’d finished observing his outfit. 

Now that Mark was focusing on his face, he could see the hints of eye shadow and lipgloss, not to mention the severe lack of glasses he’d been usually wearing for the past two days. 

Mark gulped. Donghyuck was clearly waiting for him to say something, so he softly cleared his throat which had dried up, and tried to formulate a sentence. 

“Nice outfit?” he choked out, as if it was a question. Donghyuck rolled his eyes and tried to walk away, but Mark spoke again. “It’s really unique. I like the belt and the design on the pocket,” 

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Donghyuck strutted pompously in the wrong direction. “It took you long enough to notice,” he huffed. 

When he didn’t hear Mark move, Donghyuck turned around to see the older gesturing in the right direction. Biting his lip in embarrassment again, he let Mark lead the way down the corridor. 

They were currently going to get some coffee for the workers as it was nearing lunch time. Mark had spent the morning watching Donghyuck pretend to answer phone calls with Johnny while he and Jaehyun drafted an email that Doyoung was, in the words of Jaehyun, “too lazy to write himself,”. 

Mark contemplated spitting in Jaehyun’s coffee for speaking so badly about his boss, but he decided not to, as not only would it be extremely unprofessional, but also an incredibly bad example to Donghyuck who would probably jump at the idea of secretly tampering with anything. 

Altogether, there was ten of them in the office, so they carried five coffees each. Out of all the things Donghyuck had dropped today, Mark should’ve guessed that coffee would be on the list too. 

He didn’t drop one, not two, not three or four, but all five coffees. He spilled them all over his new clothes, and to top it off, it was right in front of everyone gathering together to collect the beverages that the two trail workers had so kindly and carefully gotten for them. 

Taeil and Jungwoo, who had both yet to receive their coffees, ran immediately over to the youngest who was yelping in pain from the heat. Mark could see tears welling up at lighting speed in Donghyuck’s eyes as the two dragged him to the bathroom to clean him up. 

As soon as the door shut, the office fell into silence and Jaehyun quickly grabbed the last coffee from Mark. No one really knew what to do, or to say, so they stayed still until a small chuckle was heard from the other end of the room. 

Taeyong was sitting as his desk, red in the face from trying to hold back his laughter. Yuta cheekily smacked him across the back of the head, a smile toying at his own lips. Mark hadn’t seen Taeyong even express facial emotions in the past two days, and judging by the reactions of everyone else, it was probably more like two years. In fact, Yuta seemed to be the only one relatively unfazed by it. 

Johnny was biting his fist with his eyes shut tightly, Sicheng was scratching the back of his neck with a tight smile next to Jaehyun who was just sipping his coffee. Even Doyoung was trying not to laugh. Mark found himself biting back a smile. They shouldn’t laugh, they really shouldn’t. 

Two minutes later, Jungwoo emerged from the bathroom to get a bag from under his desk, presumably containing some clean clothes for Donghyuck. Mark had been instructed to get more coffee and find the janitor, and as he passed by the bathroom Donghyuck was in, he was hit with a whiff of the overpowering scent of coffee leaking out from inside. 

When he returned, the door was ajar and Taeil and Jungwoo seemed to have left. Mark pushed it open softly and was met with a stiff looking Donghyuck with a puffy red face. He was wearing another shirt and a pair of belt-less jeans and staring angrily into the mirror in front of him. The shirt was too big for him so it hung far past the tips of his fingers, and the pants, well they definitely needed a belt. 

“Are you okay?” Mark asked quietly, and Donghyuck folded his arms and nodded, refusing to make eye contact. He sniffled and Mark noticed how high his shoulders were held. Feeling bad, Mark walked over towards the younger and placed his hand on his tense shoulders. 

“I’m just embarrassed,” Donghyuck mumbled quietly, allowing Mark to drop his shoulders to calm him. Arms still folded, he let his head rest on Mark. “And my god damn clothes got ruined,”

After a minute or two, Mark uncrossed Donghyuck’s hands and took his wrist, carefully rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to the elbows, like they usually were. Donghyuck smiled softly up at Mark through his eyelashes, and blushed when Mark brought him in for a proper hug. 

It was brief and cut short by a knock on the door, and Taeil and Jungwoo allowed themselves in, breathless and holding three different belts for Donghyuck. They froze when they saw Mark, exchanging a glance with each other for a brief second before Donghyuck chose a dark red coloured belt and they scurried out without another word. Donghyuck examined the belt in his hand while Mark leaned back against the sink. 

“Do you wanna go actually find the cafeteria?” he asked and Donghyuck checked his watch to see that it was, in fact, time for their break. As he put the belt on, Mark ruffled his hair and they set off again to find the cafeteria, this time doing it Mark’s way and looking where they were going. 

Donghyuck was ecstatic when they found it in less that five minutes. They both ordered sandwiches and sat down near the window. Previously, they’d only met people from their section of the office, but now they were seeing what the atmosphere was like with the rest of the building. 

Across from them, were two other men, one well built with a bright green hoodie and the other, smaller one who looked like he didn’t want to be there. 

“Ten, I’m telling you, it’s magic. He lifted the glasses without touching them, without touching them, Ten” the green hoodie guy exclaimed between mouthfuls of his giant burger. The other guy, Ten, was practically playing dodgeball as he tried to avoid the pieces of food flying out from the other’s mouth. 

“Lucas, how many times do I have to tell you not to speak when you chew. It’s disgusting. And for the last time, Kun is not a wizard, he’s just smarter than you,” Ten grumbled and Lucas looked at him with his mouth hanging open, to which Ten winced at the sight of. 

“WHAT DO YOU BLOODY MEAN HE’S NOT A WIZARD, I KNOW WHAT I SAW-“ 

Mark looked back to Donghyuck who was equally as invested in this argument kicking off in front of them. They laughed quietly to themselves, but to everyone else in the cafeteria it seemed to be a normal occurrence as no one was batting an eyelid, save for another man stomping towards the arguing pair. 

Lucas had stood up, cheeks bursting with food but still looking like he was really about to square up to Ten. Before the two literally got at each other’s throats, the last man, which Mark assumed was Kun, stepped between them and started giving out about how they were always fighting. 

Mark and Donghyuck exchanged another look as Kun quietly explained to Ten that he shouldn’t ruin the illusion for “young believers” like Lucas. 

Lucas spotted that Donghyuck and Mark were looking at them, and they two immediately pretended like they were engaged in another conversation while also eating their sandwiches. Lucas apparently told the other two, as the three of them swiftly moved to sit at their table. Kun sat next to Donghyuck while Ten sat next to Mark, and Lucas between them. 

Mark was about to say something, when Kun started speaking to them “Are you guys the new guys in Kim Dongyoung’s office?” he asked, the three leaning closely in as if this were peak information. 

“Yeah-“ Mark started, attempting to make a longer sentence but again was cut off by the three men excitedly “ooh”ing and rubbing their hands together mischievously. Their previous argument seemed to be put on hold as they were all incredibly intrigued by the two. 

“Nice to meet you then, kiddos. What are your names?” Kun asked, seemingly so deeply interested in knowing these two boys’ names. 

Donghyuck smiles sweetly, eyes wandering to the weed shaped charm hanging around Kun’s neck. That explained a lot. “I’m Donghyuck, he’s Mark,”

“I’m Ten, that’s Kun and Lucas,” Ten said, pointing to the others. “I’ve always wanted to be in Kim Dongyoung’s office, we never get any stories from there so I always wonder what happens when we can’t see them,”

Kun rolled his eyes. “That’s because they’ve gotten boring. The only interesting thing is these new whippersnappers,”

Lucas ripped another bite from his burger and exhaled deeply from his nose with furrowed eyebrows. One could only guess that he disagreed with Kun. 

“Did you guys see the person that spilled coffee? We just heard about it but apparently Lee Taeyong laughed,” Ten added, fuelling this sudden gossip circle. Mark placed his hand on Donghyuck’s and held it, not wanting the younger to be upset about the news of his butterfingers travelling so far. 

Lucas apparently saw this the wrong way, as through another massive mouthful of his second burger his eyes shot open and he pointed dramatically towards their interlocked fingers with a loud “MMMMM!”. Suddenly the three burst into loud hooting and hollering, thigh slapping and mouth wide open expressions. 

Ten was rocking back and forth on his tiny plastic cafeteria chair while shaking like he was having some sort of demon sucked out of him. Lucas was munching at lightning speed so he could say something without Ten giving out to him, and Kun was slapping his knee like a spoon player in a hillbilly band. 

Mark retracted his hand slightly from Donghyuck’s, but otherwise the two stayed perfectly still while the other three overreacted like hooligans. The biggest mystery was why they weren’t attracting any attention. 

“THEY’RE DATING!” Lucas yodelled when he’d swallowed his food. Mark put his head in his hands but immediately lifted it back up to tell Lucas he was wrong. 

“PLOT TWIST,” exclaimed Ten while Kun clutched his heart and probably wrinkled his linen shirt from holding it so tight. 

“No, no” corrected Mark. “We’re not dating,”

“He was just trying to comfort me because I’m the one that spilled the coffee,” confessed Donghyuck, which probably wasn’t a good idea as Mark was sure these were the most overdramatic people he would ever meet in his life. 

Sure enough, the freak out commenced again, this time with Lucas’ deep voice in the mix. Ten clung onto Lucas’ arm and shook him back and forth while Kun slammed his fists repeatedly on the table. 

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at Mark and they wordlessly agreed that now would be a good time to leave. 

“We’ll see you guys later, yeah?” Mark asked and the three looked almost betrayed that they would ever consider leaving. 

“You’ll have to come talk to us tomorrow though, promise?” Ten requested, and Donghyuck and Mark nodded feverishly. The three may have been overwhelming and hard to escape, but they were extremely funny. 

The eventful lunch break definitely took Donghyuck’s mind of the coffee incident and he was back to his regular chirpy self when they returned to Doyoung’s office. He greeted Taeil and Jungwoo almost as a different person than half an hour ago, doing secret handshakes they’d probably made up while they were out shopping. 

Everyone seemed to be delighted with Donghyuck for overcoming his embarrassment so easily. If that were Mark, he would’ve cried in the bathroom for an hour and then cried on the bus home and then cried in the shower before crying himself to sleep. 

So yeah, Donghyuck was doing pretty good. He’d even tucked his shirt into his pants to show off his red belt that he refused to give back to Jungwoo. Mark was surprised however, that he didn’t get a scolding or even a second glance from Doyoung. Rather, he got a pat on the shoulder and his next task for the day. 

Taeyong’s shell seemed to be somehow cracked since the incident. Not too different, but every now and then Mark would catch him engaging in a quick chat or smiling to himself when he thought no one else was looking. Mark wondered why it had affected him so much and why he seemed like a completely different person to the day before. 

Perhaps it was just the weather, it was getting warmer lately and Taeyong might have just been fed up with being grumpy all the time. Or maybe, like the not-so-quiet voice in his head was telling him, it was Donghyuck. The boy that made funny jokes, went on shopping trips with people he barely knew, got lost for a full hour while trying to find a cafeteria five minutes away, and somehow lightened the mood by crying. A sneaky suspicion of Mark’s was that Donghyuck was inspiring Taeyong to be a better person, and showing him that there was more to a workplace than just work. 

Mark knew that because he was feeling the exact same way. 

-

Thursday, Donghyuck didn’t come to work. 

Coincidentally, it was also raining that day, and Mark’s walk from the bus stop to the company building had him soaking to the point where he had to dry his hair in the hand dryer in one of the bathrooms. 

Apparently Donghyuck had called Doyoung early that morning to inform him of his absence. Mark was sure that Doyoung would finally snap with his unprofessionalism, but to Mark’s surprise, (and slight annoyance), he yet again seemed to slip through the clutches of consequences. 

Starting the days work without Donghyuck had felt weird in a way that was indescribable. The office was noticeably quieter, and Mark would never admit the number of people that had asked him where Donghyuck was because frankly, it was just painful.

Jaehyun and Johnny had grown closer after spending time together to watch over Mark and Donghyuck. Mark even saw that Jaehyun did in fact have a personality and a sense of humour, it just didn’t seem to appear in front of Mark. They’d asked him when the clock struck 10 and Donghyuck still hadn’t shown up. He shrugged and mumbled something about him being sick because really, Mark didn’t know where he even was. 

Mark’s shoulders were actually hurting before he even got to have his lunch break. It was from all the shrugging from people asking about him, especially Taeil and Jungwoo. Mark didn’t know why they all assumed he, of all people, would know. If anything, he should’ve been asking Taeil and Jungwoo, not the other way around. 

Even Taeyong had mellowed out from yesterday’s events. He and Yuta were back to quickly doing their work at their opposite tables together. 

The whole office was basically put back to the way Mark had found it. It felt like Donghyuck was missing, but somehow he was never there. 

Mark didn’t really know what to do with himself. On one hand, this is what he wanted. This would be what it would be like each day if he was hired. No mess, no distractions, no disreputable college students in his way. But on the other hand, Donghyuck wasn’t there and it was slowly eating him apart. 

Mark wasn’t exactly sure whether he missed Donghyuck, or if he missed feeling like a part of something. He missed how people would come up to talk to them, and joke around and not make Mark feel like he was about to fall asleep every five seconds. He missed Donghyuck’s cheeky smile and the way he’d hold Mark’s hand when they walked the corridors of the greyscale office that turned much more colourful when Donghyuck was there. 

It had only been two hours in this office on his own, but Mark hadn’t spent two seconds without Donghyuck in his mind. 

Mark’s lunch break came around, and he was sure he hadn’t even spoken to someone since Doyoung told him of Donghyuck’s absence, so he went to see if he could find Ten, Kun and Lucas again for a chat. 

Sure enough, they were sitting at the same table as Wednesday, except today they had a board game of Cluedo laid dramatically out across the table surface. Kun was even wearing a detectives cloak, Ten had a monocle, and Lucas had a fake moustache. Each of them was carefully guarding a selection of cards and eyeing each other suspiciously as Kun rolled the dice seemingly in slow motion. 

They all jumped out of their skin and rushed to hide their cards when Mark approached.

“Where’s Donghyuck?” asked Ten, furrowing his eyebrows which in turn, caused his monocle to fall into his plastic box of pasta salad. 

“He’s out today,” Mark responded dryly, definitely not missing how disappointed the three seemed. 

“That’s a shame, he’s really peak gossip in our office lately,” Kun told Mark as he helped Ten clean the salad dressing from his monocle, “Sicheng works between Doyoung’s office and ours, so we get all the latest scoop right from the source,”

Mark understood now how the news of Donghyuck’s coffee mishap had spread so quickly. He didn’t look it, but Sicheng was secretly indulging in this word of mouth entertainment that Mark really couldn’t understand. 

“I hope he’s not sick,” said Lucas, through a stolen mouthful of Ten’s pasta salad. “He won’t get the job if he misses another day,”

Lucas seemed to not be quite aware of what he was saying, and he was immediately scolded by Kun and Ten for implying that he’d rather Donghyuck get the job than Mark. 

By the time he’d realised, it was too late to apologise. Mark was truly fed up with this. He stood up and walked away, abandoning the trio and his pizza slice which wasn’t even that good anyway. 

He caught himself before he literally freaked out. His fists were near shaking, and his jaw was fixed shut.  
Stopping just outside the office, he breathed deeply, in and out through his nose and mouth, before walking calmly towards Taeil and Jungwoo who were eating cream puffs at their desks. 

He requested them to give him Donghyuck’s phone number, which he was almost sure they had, and stalked back out of the office once he’d tapped it into his phone. 

Immediately he pressed the call button as he was walking to a nearby, but not too close, bathroom. As he’d expected, Donghyuck picked up despite not having Mark’s number in his phone. 

“Hello?” came a tentative voice from the other end of the phone. 

“Hello Donghyuck, it’s Mark from work,” Mark greeted formally. Mark wasn’t used to Donghyuck being anywhere but right in front of him, so hearing his small voice echo inside his phone was a little odd. 

“Oh, hi Mark,” replied Donghyuck, sounding relieved that he wasn’t talking to a prank caller or something. “Sorry I’m not in today, I’m not feeling well. I’ve been vomiting all morning,” 

Mark winced at the unnecessary amount of information Donghyuck was providing. The younger’s openness always surprised him, he was constantly shamelessly talking about his personal life as if they’d been friends for years, rather than as if they’d been colleagues for less than a week. 

“I hope you’re alright, and that you’ll be present tomorrow,” Mark responded, earning a breathy chuckle from the other end of the line. 

“Stop talking so professionally, Mark, you drive me insane,” he laughed. Mark could hear the hoarseness in his voice, it was squeaking at the edges. He sounded a little strained too, so Mark assumed he was probably lying down. 

Mark dropped his shoulders which he didn’t realise were raised up so high. “Sorry.”

“S’okay,” Donghyuck mumbled, “Why’d you call?”

Mark was a little unsure what to say. He’d called out of impulse, something he’d never really done before. How was he supposed to explain that he just had a sudden desire to hear the younger’s voice? Surely it would be pathetic to admit his attachment over such a short period of time? 

Mark took a deep breath. What would Donghyuck do in this situation? 

“Did you miss me?”

Donghyuck would probably be honest. “Yeah, a little bit,” Mark replied steadily. 

Mark let out a sigh. It was kind of refreshing not having to hide things, it felt relieving in a way that was so new to him. “Everyone’s been asking for you, and I’m kinda sick of hearing your name but I needed to hear your voice. I think you’re the only one that actually wants to talk to me,”

“Wow, so who said I actually wanted to talk to you?” Donghyuck retorted sassily, but quickly backtracked when he heard Mark choke slightly, seemingly not catching onto the fact that Donghyuck was only joking. “I’m messing, don’t worry. I think you’re fun to talk to. You put up with my bullshit,”

Mark almost laughed. “I think everyone puts up with your bullshit. Everyone loves you,”

It was true. Everyone did love Donghyuck. Sometimes, Mark found himself submerging in the pits of jealousy he’d tried so hard to ignore. Donghyuck didn’t work hard, he wasn’t careful and professional like Mark was, he didn’t have any experience, nor commitment for even just a trial job. It wasn’t fair that everyone loved Donghyuck when Mark was trying so much harder. 

Mark couldn’t stand being second best. But he couldn’t hate everyone for liking Donghyuck, because he liked Donghyuck too. 

They fell into silence for a moment, and Mark wondered whether Donghyuck had fallen asleep. “How are you feeling?” Mark blurted out, not wanting the conversation to die. 

“I’m alright. Like I said, a lot of vomiting, but that was mainly this morning so I’ll try and get in tomorrow,” Donghyuck replied, not really giving any more information than he already had.

“Have you been thinking about what’s going to happen after this week?” 

After this week. A phrase that hadn’t crossed Mark’s mind, or rather, one that he was avoiding. It was naive to think this week would last forever, Mark wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted it to. Donghyuck had become a constant in his day, in this office. While he was out, it felt wrong. It felt like Donghyuck was supposed to be there and not Mark, and it was exactly what he was fearing, yet at the same time desiring. Donghyuck belonged in a place with people who would love him. 

After this week, one of them would be hired. After this week, they would no longer work together. After this week, Mark may never see Donghyuck again. After all, why would Donghyuck ever want to actually be friends with someone like Mark?

Donghyuck deserved this job so much. Mark found it extremely hard to admit, but it was true nonetheless. Monday morning, he was convinced he had this job in the bag, but now, he felt wrong standing in a place that should be Donghyuck’s. 

“Mark?” 

Mark hiccuped, and he could hear Donghyuck snicker on the other end of the line. “I don’t know Donghyuck,” he replied waveringly. 

“I’ve been alone with my thoughts all day, I don’t know what’ll happen either,” Donghyuck confessed, and Mark had never heard him sound so unsure.

Mark shook his head knowingly, even though he was fully aware that Donghyuck couldn’t see. “I’ve been alone with my thoughts too,”

It was at that moment that someone walked into the bathroom. Fortunately, it was just Kun, but unfortunately, he didn’t just let Mark get along with his phone call. 

He was mouthing “who is it?” exaggeratedly, and Mark momentarily tuned out from what Donghyuck was saying to tell him. He probably should’ve just said it was his mother or something, because Kun did his signature knee slap and took the phone from Mark. 

Then, he did a very bad impression of Mark’s Canadian accent. A flirtatious “Hey Hyuckie,”, followed by an array of kissing sounds that Mark would’ve laughed at if his face wasn’t turning red at an alarming rate. 

Mark grabbed his phone back from Kun, and the older man (although it really didn’t seem like it) trotted back out into the hallway without even using the bathroom. 

When he was at a safe distance from Mark, he poked his head back into the room and whispered “Can’t wait to tell Ten that you’re calling your boyfriend during your lunch break,” 

Mark rolled his eyes. He would’ve had a bigger reaction if Donghyuck were there, but since he wasn’t, he figured the offhand comment was okay. Somehow, that moment of interaction was an apology for earlier. Mark hoped that Lucas didn’t really mean it anyway. At that exact moment, he remembered Donghyuck was still on the phone. 

Mark put the phone back up to his ear. “Sorry about that, it was Kun,” he clarified. 

Donghyuck laughed. It was half a laugh, because he was sick, but he still laughed anyway. “I think I got that. I know your accent and that was far from it,” 

Mark smiled to himself, and was about to say something when Donghyuck, rather panicky, asked “Doesn’t your lunch break end at 2? Ten minutes ago?”

“Shit.” Mark didn’t have to worry about Donghyuck being offended at him abruptly ending the call. He couldn’t hear it, but he knew Donghyuck was laughing his squeaky post-purge laugh long after Mark had hung up. 

Luckily, Mark was supposed to be working with Taeil at that time, so he told him the truth, that he’d got caught up chatting to Donghyuck. Taeil thankfully let it slide and promised not to tell Doyoung. It would be their secret. 

The rest of the day carried on the same, save for the ringing of Donghyuck’s words and his laugh around in Mark’s head like an ear worm. He just couldn’t stop thinking about him. 

The day finally reached its end, with Mark counting down the mere seconds until he was allowed to leave. 

Mark walked sluggishly to the bus stop, hands in his pockets and staring at the ground racing by in blurs underneath his feet. He hadn’t even said goodbye to anyone, just left. 

It had stopped raining by four o’ clock, so the roads were wet and Mark spent his focus on avoiding the puddles, rather than the car tailing him and trying to catch his attention. It pulled over next to the curb and almost splashed Mark with the puddles at the curb, if he hadn’t jumped back quickly. 

Looking up, he realised Donghyuck was driving this car. 

“Get in,” he called, rolling down the window. 

Mark furrowed his eyebrows. “Aren’t you sick?”

“Yes, very much so, but I’ll explain once you get in,” he dramatically shivered just to prove his point, “I shouldn’t be exposed to the cold in my state.”

Mark accepted defeat and climbed into the passengers seat. Donghyuck’s car was incredibly warm for some reason, and Mark felt the urge to take off his jacket at the heat. 

He then noticed what the younger was wearing. A baggy white t-shirt and a pair of baggy basketball shorts that exposed his thighs. Before Mark stared too long, he looked down at Donghyuck’s feet and realised he wasn’t even wearing shoes. 

“How do you drive a car without shoes?” he asked, genuinely concerned at how it didn’t strain Donghyuck’s legs without the flat surface of a shoe to press in the clutch properly. 

“Do you have a thing for feet? Why are you looking at them?” Donghyuck retorted, shifting the gear stick and taking off. Mark was surprised at how well Donghyuck could drive, he genuinely seemed focused and unlike how he was throughout this past week. 

“Can you explain why you collected me?” Mark asked, already exasperated by the younger but secretly glad he was there. Donghyuck was silent as he came towards a junction, focusing on getting in the right lane rather than talking to Mark. This was a really new experience. 

“I need to get honey for my throat, it’s sore after coughing and throwing up but I forgot shoes so you need to go into the shop and buy it for me,” Donghyuck ordered. Mark rolled his eyes and sighed. He may be slightly disappointed that Donghyuck wasn’t here for anything but cheap labour, but he’d still get the honey for him. Off the phone, Mark could properly hear the sharp and squeaky edges to Donghyuck’s usual syrupy tone. He wondered just how much this kid had vomited to make it sound that bad. 

“Alright, be quick,” requested Donghyuck, pulling up near a corner shop for Mark to jump out while he turned the car. 

Mark strolled into the establishment and looked around. It was an unfamiliar shop, so he wasn’t used to the layout, nor did he know where he could find the honey. After five minutes of searching nearly every surface of the shop, he found it. While he was at it, he picked up some camomile tea too. 

The car engine was still on when Mark emerged, so he hoped he didn’t take too long. 

“Thanks,” said Donghyuck, taking the plastic bag from Mark and putting it in the backseat. He took off speedily in another direction and Mark wondered where they were going. 

“You can thank me by dropping me home,” he said, which only caused Donghyuck to grunt in annoyance and deny his request.

“Let’s just go back to my place,” he whined, clearly not in the mood to drive shoeless anymore. “Please?”

Mark couldn’t say no, so they ended up together at Donghyuck’s apartment building in less than five minutes. He took the bag from the backseat and was ready to go in when he realised Donghyuck hadn’t even got out of the car yet. Mark went over to the drivers side to see what was going on, and he was met with Donghyuck with his legs scrunched up to his chest staring at the wet ground below them. 

He wiggled his shoeless feet, looking up at Mark expectedly. For what felt like the billionth time that day, Mark sighed deeply. “How did you even get to your car in the first place?”

Donghyuck stuck out his bottom lip. “It was nearer to the door earlier,”

Mark couldn’t stand to see Donghyuck pout for one more second, so he gave the plastic bag to him and opened his arms wide for the younger to climb into them. 

Donghyuck looped his hands around Mark’s neck and his legs around his hips. Mark tried not to put his hands on Donghyuck’s ass, instead he tried to keep them on his thighs, but at the same time he didn’t want to make this weird and touch his bare skin. 

Donghyuck buried his head in the crook of Mark’s neck, relishing in the warmth of his older coworker. 

Mark shut the car door behind him and took Donghyuck’s keys, locking the car and heading quickly towards the door of the apartment building. 

Mark let Donghyuck down softly once they’d reached the hall inside, and Donghyuck removed the hands he’d wrapped around Mark’s neck last. Mark felt relieved not to have such a weight to carry, but at the same time he missed the contact he desperately craved more by every second he spent with Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck wasn’t in any place to take the stairs, so he stumbled over towards the elevators and waited for one to arrive. Mark properly took in the sight of the younger then, standing smaller than Mark without his shoes. 

Mark really hadn’t seen Donghyuck like this before, only ever in shirts and jeans and belts way too flashy for a greyscale office. Still, he thought he preferred this look of Donghyuck more, he guessed it felt more authentic or something. It definitely had nothing to do with the collarbones peeking out from behind the baggy shirt, or the golden thighs that somehow looked ethereal under the harsh light of the apartment hallway. 

One thing that Mark was sure would never change, was Donghyuck’s haphazard head of hair. Still the same as he first saw it, wild and messy, but a perfect fit for a boy of the same qualities. 

His face was puffy, Mark noticed now he could see it properly. The winter brought the darkness closer to the afternoons, as well as the rainfall sprinkling the tendrils of Donghyuck’s hair like dewdrops on spiderwebs. Now in the light, he could see the redness around Donghyuck’s eyes, and his slightly swollen lips that matched with his scratchy voice. 

Donghyuck really wasn’t having a good day. 

The elevator ride was in silence as Donghyuck picked at the label on the honey and Mark watched. He was nervous, and kind of unsure of why he was even here, as he and Donghyuck were just coworkers and not even friends. 

Still, here they were, in a small elevator with a flickering light, Mark dressed in a full suit and Donghyuck in pyjamas, waiting until they reached the floor of Donghyuck’s apartment. 

Donghyuck’s apartment, well, Mark wasn’t really sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Sure, Donghyuck was a rather wacky person, but Mark really couldn’t comprehend why on earth this boy would put gummy bears on his lampshade. 

The whole apartment (or what Mark could see of it) was covered in strong blues and purples with smaller patches of reds, greens, pinks and yellows in the form of fairy lights, posters, cushions and chairs. The hues glowed in every direction of his vision, a completely different atmosphere taking him over as Donghyuck shut the door behind him, and made Mark feel like he was stepping into the night sky, or the rainbow road course on mario kart.

Once Mark got used to the colours, he started noticing smaller details, like the vinyl collection on a shelf in the corner of the room, framed photos of Michael Jackson and various artworks that Mark didn’t recognise. There was a big birch wood bookshelf with an incredible amount of books that Mark could see were mainly on sociology, astronomy, psychology and ornithology. Honestly, Mark was a little surprised that there was this much more to Donghyuck’s already desirable personality. 

Mark turned back to Donghyuck who was attempting to open the jar of honey. His face was scrunched up and eyes squeezed shut but Mark could tell the lid of the jar wouldn’t budge. 

He reached his hand out. Already exhausted from even just getting up, Donghyuck allowed Mark to take the jar from him while he flopped onto the couch, the fatigue weighing him down. 

It took Mark all of three minutes to open that jar, and he was thankful Donghyuck was practically asleep so he didn’t have to witness it. In his mind, Mark blamed Donghyuck for greasing the lid with his grubby fingers. 

When he finally pried it open, he brought it over to Donghyuck, along with a spoon. Tapping him lightly on the shoulder, he held out the jar for Donghyuck to take. Wordlessly, Donghyuck opened his mouth and stared up at Mark expectantly. 

Mark playfully rolled his eyes. He’d learned to not be affected by the things Donghyuck did, because it was just who he was. Mark decided to kneel on the floor next to where Donghyuck’s head was on the couch. The poor boy couldn’t even sit up properly, and Mark was slightly annoyed that Donghyuck hadn’t just asked Mark to buy him honey and come bring it to him rather than the younger driving himself. 

Mark spoon-fed the honey to Donghyuck, who fell back with closed eyes almost instantly. Before putting the honey back, Mark stared at the peaceful face of his own honey-skinned boy. His eyes that were so gently shut, the eyelashes that tickled his golden cheeks, his rounded button nose that shone under the light, and his heart shaped lips. Mark felt, in that moment, like he would give up anything for Donghyuck. 

“Are you just gonna stare?” Donghyuck mumbled without opening his eyes, clearing sensing that Mark was still right in front of him. Speechlessly, Mark got up and shook himself out of it. He rinsed the spoon in the sink and put the honey back in what Mark guessed was some sort of spice cupboard. Leaning on the counter he reminded himself of what was important to him; getting that job. 

-

Friday brought the dreaded cloud of Mark’s worry into clear view. At 10, he would be going to Doyoung’s office to find out if he got the job or not. 

Mark hadn’t left Donghyuck’s house the previous night, he’d lost track of time and ended up sleeping on the younger’s couch in the midst of the colourful lights that Donghyuck spent a good five minutes switching all off. 

Donghyuck had repeatedly insisted that Mark should sleep in his bed, as it wasn’t fair to let the guest have a rough night, but Mark argued back that Donghyuck was the one sick, and Mark didn’t want to “infect himself” from sleeping in a bed with the germs. Donghyuck reluctantly accepted after that, and gathered some (clean) blankets for Mark to sleep with on the couch. 

They’d watched three movies in total, taking minor intervals for Donghyuck to have more honey. Mark was glad it was making a difference, as the vomiting had stopped earlier in the day. He’d been hoping that Donghyuck would be well enough to make it to work for the Friday, as they didn’t really even have a full day with the whole hiring ordeal. 

Surprisingly enough, Mark slept quite well. Donghyuck’s couch was incredibly comfortable and spacious, and the apartment made him feel like he was already dreaming. 

So Mark and Donghyuck showed up to work in the same car, not really a big deal, but something that didn’t go unnoticed by the familiar faces of Ten, Kun and Lucas, who were heading into the building at the same time. They smirked, but didn’t say a word. 

The atmosphere was tense between Mark and Donghyuck, for an obvious reason neither of them had the courage to bring up. It had become an unspoken topic between them since the start of the week, and neither felt like breaking that anytime soon. 

So they stayed in silence until Donghyuck was called first into Doyoung’s office. Johnny and Yuta comforted Mark as he sweated more than he’d ever done in his life. They’d never really seen someone so nervous for a job before, and they couldn’t help but wonder if that was all there was to Mark’s stress. It was probably best not to push it. 

The ticking of the clock was driving Mark insane. He couldn’t even tell where the damn clock was let alone why it was ticking so loud and so often, too fast for Mark to relax to. 

In ten minutes, Mark was called to Doyoung’s office too. When he got in, Donghyuck was already gone. Doyoung sat Mark down on the chair across from his desk and took a moment to observe his potential employee who was currently red in the face from worrying so much. 

They spent about half a minute in silence, until Mark finally had enough. 

“Look, just say it,” he burst, “just say he got the job, oh my god”

Doyoung cocked an eyebrow at Mark, still not having uttered a word. 

Mark squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled deeply. “I know hard work isn’t all you value in an employee. He has so much more to offer than I do, he fits in so much better. He gets along with the other workers and he makes you guys laugh. I know he’s not that good at carrying coffee or sorting out files right, but he can learn, I know you know he can learn. He’s not a dumbass,” 

Mark took a deep breath and put his head in his hands. “He studies ornithology, Doyoung. I had to bloody google that.”

At this point, Doyoung didn’t even look like he was preparing to say anything. He was just leaning back in his chair considering Mark’s rambling. 

“I know he got the job, please just say it,” Mark begged. 

“Funny thing,” Doyoung finally said, standing up and walking around the desk “Donghyuck said the exact same thing ten minutes ago,”

Mark’s throat went dry, but Doyoung wasn’t done. “Except, he wasn’t lying,”

A small “what,” escaped Mark’s lips, and Doyoung gave him a look that told him he wasn’t going to answer that. 

“You know you got the job, right? Donghyuck knows it too,” Doyoung continued, walking around the room and forcing Mark to turn in his chair to maintain eye contact with him. “You cant really be serious in thinking he got the job. He does virtually nothing.”

Mark laughed briefly, but remade a serious face. This wasn’t the time for jokes. 

“He didn’t even show up yesterday, for God’s sake,” Doyoung scoffed. 

Mark piped in. “He was actually sick,”

Doyoung took a deep breath and looked Mark properly in the eye. “You are only as weak as your excuses,” he said. 

It was at that moment that Mark’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and with a gesture of approval from Doyoung, he opened it and checked the message. 

From: Donghyuck 

To: Mark 

I’m so proud of u x

Sent: 10:17am

Mark re-pocketed his phone and looked down at his lap. “So I really got the job?” he said in a small voice. 

Doyoung nodded, and Mark let out a deep breath. He felt like his whole world had turned silent all of a sudden. 

“You know, Mark, you fit in too,” Doyoung comforted out of the blue. “Taeyong told me he thought you were cool because you laughed at Donghyuck’s mishap rather than getting butthurt.” 

Mark blushed, eyes still fixed on the fingers on his lap, while Doyoung continued. “And your friend Qian Kun came to tell me he thought something was up when they asked about Donghyuck. I think it would be good for you to know that when you were late on Tuesday morning, everyone asked Donghyuck where you were too.”

Doyoung say back down in his seat. “It’s important for you to know that you deserve this job, and you deserve a place among my employees.”

Mark finally looked up to meet his softened gaze once more. “I’m incredibly proud to call you my new secretary, and I look forward to working with you. You start Monday at 9.”

Mark took that as his dismissal, and he left the room, hair dishevelled from running his fingers through it and his red face finally calming down. Immediately, he was met with everyone, even Taeyong, congratulating him on his new job. They had a (slightly damp) party hat and a mini cupcake Mark recognised as from the cafeteria. It was all nice and welcoming, but Mark still felt like it was missing something. 

“Donghyuck’s at the end of the hall,” said Taeil in Mark’s ear, patting him on the back as they all left him to talk to his friend. 

Sure enough, Donghyuck was sitting by the printer where they’d first met Sicheng. He was on his phone, but looked up the second Mark came to give him a big congratulatory hug. It was tight, and Mark hugged back just as hard. 

It was then that they heard familiar hollering from the other end of the hall, and indeed, it was Ten, Kun and Lucas. 

Mark and Donghyuck ran back up to join the rest of them, smiles permanent on their faces and hands brushing against each other between them. 

Jungwoo and Taeil came over to hug Donghyuck and squeal excitedly, and Mark made a mental note to ask Donghyuck what that was about later. In the meantime, Johnny was sneakily asking Mark tips on how to “get one”, while not so subtly pointing at Ten from across the room. 

Jaehyun lifted Mark up on his shoulders for some reason, Yuta scoffed at how overdramatic they were being about the whole thing. 

Everyone was happy, and Mark wasn’t sure why there was still a heavy feeling in his chest. 

-

Saturday morning brought a much needed lie-in for Mark. He slept off the high of being hired and the gloom of missing Donghyuck. He didn’t expect the younger to want to be friends outside of work, he seemed like a busy person when it came to his social life. 

While Mark waited for the kettle to boil, he mulled over his week. The times he spent with Donghyuck, and his fickleness throughout. Mark knew he was wavering too much between wanting the job and wanting Donghyuck, but it was hard for him, a usually decisive and set-minded person, to admit that. Donghyuck had somehow solved his inner inertia like it was a rubix cube, and Mark was dumbfounded, but craved more. 

It was painful to admit that he could, and did, learn a little from Donghyuck. 

Mark cast his mind back to Monday, how he’d felt like a child again talking to Donghyuck about something so basic as his likes and dislikes, his favourite things and people. He remembered how Donghyuck had the simplest of solutions, like when Doyoung forgot them, the solution was to literally just go find him. 

Mark almost laughed at how black and white Donghyuck made problems seem, but how colourful he made the beautiful things that Mark often looked past. The way he was starting to see the world in a different light now thanks to Donghyuck. 

Mark suddenly felt a surge of motivation run through his veins, and it definitely wasn’t from the caffeine, as he hadn’t even made his coffee yet. 

But then again, Mark didn’t want to embarrass himself. It was cold outside, and Mark didn’t even know the time. 

A voice in Mark’s head reminded him, “You are only as weak as your excuses,”

And that was enough to push him out of the door after he pulled on socks, shoes and a big coat, before walking straight to Donghyuck’s apartment building in his pyjamas. If there was one thing Mark had learned, it was that sometimes it was best to act on impulse rather than regret all the things he’d never done. The second thing Mark learned was simple solutions. He liked Donghyuck a lot, so why not tell him?

It was a crisp morning, cold air stinging tightly against Mark’s cheeks, turning them red and causing his nose to run slightly, but he certainly wasn’t about to turn back. 

He tried to remember the right way to Donghyuck’s apartment buildings, and arrived safely before he realised he should’ve probably check if Donghyuck was awake before walking there, so he could open the door. He rang Donghyuck’s apartment on the panel outside the building, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for Donghyuck to get up. 

“Who is it?” came a familiar (and noticeably less scratchy) voice from the panel. 

“It’s Mark,” he replied, his breathe coming out in a little white puff. “Please let me in, it’s freezing,” 

The door buzzed open and Mark swiftly let himself in, running up the stairs to hopefully regain some of the warmth he’d lost outside. Somehow though, he wasn’t nervous. Not even about showing up to Donghyuck’s house early in the morning in only his pyjamas, and with a confession to make. 

Mark knocked on Donghyuck’s apartment door with hands so cold he had to open and close them to make sure they still worked. 

Donghyuck opened the door in seconds, and for a moment they just stood, staring at each other. 

Clearly, it wasn’t Donghyuck’s responsibility to speak first given that Mark had just turned up out of the blue, but Mark hadn’t really thought of what he was going to say. 

Mark wasn’t really an expert in the romance category. He’d had a boyfriend before when he was 16, but outside of that, there wasn’t a lot of action. 

Maybe the Mark from a week ago would’ve felt like an idiot leaning in for a kiss so simply. He’d have been convinced there was more to it, but here he was. Leaning in for a kiss, just a kiss. 

Donghyuck didn’t pull back, and the second their lips met, Mark’s mind went completely blank. It took him one or two seconds to comprehend that this wasn’t in his head, wasn’t an intruding thought nor a daydream, but a reality. And Donghyuck’s lips were so, so soft. 

Donghyuck put his hands on the sides of Mark’s arms, and it was then that Mark realised he should probably do something with them. As he wrapped them around the younger’s waist, they started moving their lips, working to create a rhythm. 

Mark ran his tongue against Donghyuck’s lips and Donghyuck looped his hands around Mark’s neck. Their tongues briefly met each other, and Mark discovered, to no surprise, that Donghyuck tasted like blueberries which he’d probably had for breakfast. 

Mark brought his hands up to cup Donghyuck’s cheeks. Donghyuck gasped, presenting an opportunity for Mark to slide his tongue deeper into Donghyuck’s mouth. An opportunity missed, as Donghyuck pulled back the second Mark’s hands came in contact with his skin, and Mark started panicking, wondering if he’d done something wrong. 

“Your hands are fucking freezing!” Donghyuck exclaimed, cupping his own cheek and then reaching out for Mark’s frozen hands. 

A sigh of relief left Mark’s lips once he realised Donghyuck wasn’t really mad at him for anything. Donghyuck dragged him into his apartment to shut the door and began to get a cup of tea ready. Mark noticed how his lips and cheeks had become slightly red from the past few minutes, and Mark couldn’t help but feel proud that he’d been the one to cause that. 

As Donghyuck stirred the tea for Mark, they exchanged a shy glance. Mark took the tea from Donghyuck and held the mug to warm his hands. He took a sip, and when he was sure his hands were warm enough, he set the mug down and cupped Donghyuck’s face again, pressing Donghyuck’s back against the counter and resuming their kiss. 

Mark felt the heat from the tea that had been in his mouth transfer to Donghyuck’s. Their tongues pressed against the other softly and fluidly, and Mark ran his hands through Donghyuck’s messy hair, something he’d been dying to do for a while. 

They pulled apart again and Donghyuck smiled brightly up at Mark, still holding him close around the waist. He kissed at the corners of Mark’s lips and that was when Mark knew they needn’t say more. 

-

Sunday, Mark woke up in Donghyuck’s bed with said boy snuggled up in his arms. They’d fallen asleep watching Chicken Little on Donghyuck’s laptop, and Mark dreamt of the stars and the sky. 

In the morning, he was still convinced the sky had fallen, as he woke to a pair of dark, sparkling eyes that definitely didn’t hold just one night sky, but every night from then on that Donghyuck and Mark would spend together. 

-

Monday rolled around again, and Mark walked hand in hand with Donghyuck to the company building at 8:30. Just as they reached the door of the office, Donghyuck turned to Mark to wish him a good day, and waved to Taeil and Jungwoo at their desks. He turned back to Mark to give him a sweet peck on the lips before heading back to the car park to drive himself to a lecture. 

Mark knew word spread, and he was fully prepared for Ten, Lucas and Kun’s uproar in the cafeteria later. 

Mark intended for everyone to know, and he walked proudly to his very own desk, with a certain shiny watch on his wrist. 

-


End file.
